


The Other Brother

by Froakie



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Gen, a boy and his cat, i am a sucker for boys and their pets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-20
Updated: 2015-02-20
Packaged: 2018-03-13 23:18:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3399950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Froakie/pseuds/Froakie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It couldn't be the Lucky Cat if there wasn't a lucky cat to be found.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Other Brother

**Author's Note:**

> I’m out of practice with the fic-writing thing since 99% of my writing is RP. Add that to this being written with 2 hours of sleep, un-betaed, and in an experimental POV style… BASICALLY FORGIVE ME IF IT IS WEIRD AND STUPID writing from a 3 y/o genius’ POV is really hard.

It’s sunny out and Hiro is wearing an itchy black suit and so is everyone else around him. Auntie Cass is wearing black and a smile that doesn’t fit right on her face. Nii-chan is wearing black and no smile at all. Tadashi hasn’t worn a smile since before Kaa-chan and Tou-chan went into the hospital and never came back out again (died, he learns). Even when Hiro tries to make his Nii-chan smile all he gets in return is the feeling that he isn’t wanted.

He wonders if Nii-chan is mad because Hiro was able to come back out of the hospital when their parents weren’t. People kept saying it was a miracle that he survived with only a few bruised ribs. He didn’t know what ‘miracle’ meant so he asked Tadashi, but Tadashi couldn’t explain it. Auntie Cass did though, and Hiro doesn’t think it was a miracle. A miracle would have been if Kaa-chan and Tou-chan came back out of the hospital too.

It’s sunny out and Hiro is surrounded by people with sad faces and pinched smiles and there are so many tears but his own eyes are dry as he watches the jars his parents are in be buried in the ground. He doesn’t know how they can fit in such tiny spaces but Auntie Cass is crying and Tadashi’s lips are pressed together so hard his mouth looks like a straight line and Hiro knows it isn’t a good time to ask any questions. He decides that Kaa-chan and Tou-chan’s souls must be in those jars. They’re being kept safe in the ground so that they can stay together without getting lost in the sky or outer space, because outer space is large and scary even if it’s also super cool.

 

People drop flowers in with the jars before they get covered up with dirt, and Hiro was supposed to give them flowers too, but flowers are no fun. If his parents’ souls are being buried he wants them to be comfortable and happy and so he puts his favourite model robot in the ground with them. Then he places a deck of cards so maybe they can play games together, and some gummy bears in case souls get hungry. Nii-chan doesn’t give him a smile or a frown or any sort of expression really, but Hiro can tell that Tadashi disapproves.

After Kaa-chan and Tou-chan are tucked in with their flowers and cards and robot and gummy bears Auntie Cass leads everyone back to the Lucky Cat for food. Because itchy black suits and sickly-sweet smelling flowers and food are what people do when people die, he learned. It makes him uncomfortable though, to be around so many people he has never met. Nii-chan knows that he doesn’t like being around lots of people like this and normally he would hold Hiro’s hand but Tadashi is avoiding him and so many strangers keep coming up to him like they know him and say they’re sorry. Why are they sorry? It wasn’t their fault that it happened. Hiro may be three but he knows that bad things happen sometimes. He isn’t a little kid that thinks his parents are invincible. He isn’t the same kid he was two weeks ago.

Auntie Cass is busy talking to more of the pinch-faced strangers and Hiro doesn’t know her very well anyway so he doesn’t bother her. Tadashi keeps moving away whenever he tries to find him, and the strangers won’t stop crowding him when all he wants is to be by himself for a little while so he can let his brain out in on some paper with his new pack of crayons. As soon as he notices a lull in the strangers’ attention Hiro sneaks out the back door to sit on the step.

Now that all the noise is muffled it’s easier to let his brain wander around. He is tired but scared to sleep because every time he sleeps he feels trapped in his car seat, ribs hurting as fire starts to heat the metal around him. Every time he closes his eyes for nap time he remembers the feeling of trying to unbuckle his car seat but his baby hands are too chubby and clumsy and he wants to help Tou-chan and Kaa-chan like Iron Man or the Fantastic Four would. But he can’t and when the red and blue lights flash Kaa-chan and Tou-chan aren’t yelling anymore and the tears on his face have been dried into stiff tracks from the heat.

Hiro is smart enough to know that his Nii-chan has nightmares too. Tadashi looks more tired every day and every day he speaks to Hiro less and less so eventually Hiro stopped talking too. It wasn’t hard since he never talked much anyway. He knows his words but his mouth and tongue don’t know how to say them out loud very well. But sometimes he worried that maybe he was loud when he was asleep and it was keeping his Nii-chan awake and that was why Tadashi was mad at him. So now, whenever he goes to sleep he puts his thumb in his mouth and sucks on it. It makes him feel safe and it makes sure he can’t cry loud in his sleep so maybe Nii-chan could sleep better.

It didn’t work though. Tadashi still looks very tired. Hiro hasn’t stopped sucking his thumb though. It helps his brain be quiet when he needs it to and gives his hands something to do when he doesn’t know what else to do with them. It’s what he does now, sitting on the back step of the alleyway behind his new house. He picks at his fingernail with his tongue and thinks about how cool it would be to explore outer space with his parents, and that it’s good their in the ground because that way maybe when his and Tadashi’s souls are put in a jar too they can all go together to the moon and then Jupiter and the Milky Way and look for aliens.

A sound from nearby startles him. He pulls his thumb from his mouth with a pop and stares with wide, curious eyes at an old box in the shadowed alley corner. He hears the sound again, able to place is easily since he learned his animal sounds two years ago. Meow is what the cat says.

"Meow," Hiro answers, leaning forward with hands on his knees. The cat answers back, crawling out of the wet cardboard box. It is tiny and dirty and its meow is very small and Auntie Cass’ café is called the Lucky Cat so it makes sense to him that a little cat would be here. It can’t be Auntie Cass’ because she would never let a little cat get so dirty and shivery. Hiro knows this because she makes sure that Hiro and Tadashi are never dirty or shivery or hungry.

"Meow," says the little cat.

It’s the first conversation he’s had since the Hospital that hasn’t felt pinched and unhappy. So he crawls forward on his hands and knees to peer closely at the little cat, seeing that it is orange and black and kind of brown with what is probably white underneath the dirt. “Meow,” he says again, sticking his hand out, fingers splayed, for the kitty to sniff.

"Mrrow," it responds, half-purring, as it rubs its cheek against his hand. Hiro immediately smiles and it’s an almost foreign feeling on his face it’s been so long. He scoops up the kitten and stands up, ignoring the now-frayed fabric covering his knees. It’s not like he’s going to need to wear this itchy black suit again for a long time.

It’s as Hiro is holding the little cat to his chest that Auntie Cass bursts out through the back door so loudly that he lets out a startled squeak. The sound catches his aunt’s attention, and she’s about to scold him for sneaking away (he knows, because it’s happened a lot) when she spots what he’s holding in his arms.

Proudly, Hiro holds the kitty out for Auntie Cass and Tadashi - who is now by her side staring at him with disapproval - to see.

"This is Mochi!" His declaration is met with a small, bemused smile from his aunt and a frown from his brother. Mochi purrs again and tries to lick at Hiro’s fingers, making the toddler smile brightly again. "He’s my new otouto!"

His family clearly didn’t have any choice in the matter. And so the next day, after a vet visit and some shots, Hiro gets to fall asleep to the sound and feel of his new little brother purring against his cheeks.

 

His nightmares only return ten years later - the heat of flames still burns the tear tracks on his cheeks, and his hands are still too small and weak to save his family from danger. The only thing that’s changed is that his throat is now strong enough to scream out his brother’s name as his whole world explodes.

When Hiro wakes up, short of breath, shivering, and blinded by the after-images of the explosion it’s to the sound of Mochi’s purring and the feel of his warm, sandpapery tongue doing its best to lick away his tears.

Panic receding, he can’t help but be glad still has one brother left by his side.

**Author's Note:**

> Not really my headcanon for Mochi, but this was inspired by some back-and-forth with Tumblr user karicat!


End file.
